Advocating "freedom forever" yet insisting upon making all the moral and ethical decisions for us, V For Vendetta is an anti-intellectual alarmist parable about totalitarianism in the near-future whose irresponsibility is trumped only by its relative pallor. Beyond its shallow revenge plot, all it cares to do is seduce us with violence and the promise of more violence - culminating in the destruction of the British Parliament under the misbegotten pretense that a significant act of force is enough to dismantle institutionalized oppression. From its self-important opening narration, told in retrospect, it's clear that the film is distinctly concerned with valorizing two things: a revolutionary idea and an enigmatic man. What follows, however, is a woefully mismatched reconciliation of the two that is intended to be incendiary and provocative but is instead an ineffectually derivative and short-sighted work of dystopian barmy.

Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore (who has publicly voiced his dissatisfaction with the adaptation by insisting he not be associated with it), V For Vendetta was scripted by the Wachowski brothers and directed by colleague and collaborator James McTeigue - all of whom are responsible for the Matrix films and here replicate their ridiculously over-achieving pseudo-philosophy in a blatant pitch to prove their worth as members of the hipster intelligentsia. Rather, their efforts come off as embarrassingly juvenile and silly in their scope and depth.

Hugo Weaving plays V, a man whose vituperative bloodlust over a botched government experiment done in secret is tempered, but not excused, by his affinity for fine culture and etiquette. He makes his debut with a great gust of verbiage and a theatrical flair, acting as if aware that he's starring in a movie about himself. As off-putting as that is, he also fancies himself a kindred spirit of Guy Fawkes, whose aborted attempt to assassinate King James I of England by blowing up the British Parliament in 1605 resulted in his swift execution and legacy as a treasonous scoundrel. So resolute is this attachment that V allows his character to be subsumed by him, donning a mask in his likeness and adopting a persona single-mindedly devoted to successfully re-enacting his failed terrorist act. Finally, armed with the mantra that ideas are bullet-proof and the ironclad idea that terrorism and other aggressive tactics are condoned - if not expressly warranted - in situations of extreme duress, V emerges as a cordially sanctimonious vigilante.

Such is his solipsistic ego that his entire reason for staging this revolution is because of his unjust suffering. (No scene disgusts me more than that of V mercilessly injecting poison into one of the people partly responsible for his disfigurement - now a sorrowful and apologetic old woman who asks for forgiveness and receives it before passing.) This is his vendetta, and after hijacking the country's national television news program he announces his plans to blow up Parliament in a year's time whether or not anyone joins him. Revolution, then, becomes reduced to a spectator sport where he is the vainglorious all-star and everyone else (numbering by the hundreds, by the film's end) are mindless followers. Never mind the casting of Natalie Portman as his protege-turned-accomplice Evey; she's a pawn of his from the beginning, denied her instinctual aversion to conflict as she is tortured and moulded to fit the profile of her dead activist parents to suit his grand scheme. Even the police detective feverishly pursuing him (Stephen Rea) is suddenly awestruck as he silently bears witness to V's self-willed apotheosis.

In the end, both the plan and the film are rendered defeasible. Instead of taking a more pervasive and variegated look at confronting one's government and the ensuing fall-out in the name of freedom, V For Vendetta merely glosses over serious concerns for the sake of action, obliging us all the same happy fate. Revolution looks so fun when you don't have to think about the tremendous political upheaval left in its wake; things blow up, evil is vanquished, and you get to dole out justice without error in judgement or impunity. But really, at no point in the film does anyone stop to reflect that the fall of Hitler during WWII, for example, hasn't stopped their present totalitarian regime from taking power (and making alterations to their uniforms and flags). Indeed, if ideas are bullet-proof, doesn't that make fascist ideas equally resilient? Better ways and better films exist.

(V For Vendetta is currently playing at the Crystal Palace 8 Cinemas, located at 499 Paul St. in Dieppe.)